I am interested in hearing from T100 owners who have had issues with ball joints, idler arms, pitman arms, etc.

My T started developing a vibration late last year. It feels like a idler arm or possibly tie-rod end type of vibration
rather than worn tires or wheel balance situation. I also knew something was up when the inside of my front tires
started wearing faster than the outside and there was a little *cupping* on the whole tire ea. side.

I knew I was going to have to deal with it sooner but probably waited too long, took the car to my mechanic, who is
a good guy, honest, prolly one of the smartest ASE's I know and I know and have worked with a bunch. He drove it,
then threw it up in the air, said all four ball joints have too much play and will fail inspection when it comes up in Jan.

He also said the idler & pitman arms need replacing, I could see this: you turn one wheel, the other one doesn't
follow until a few inches later! Also said the steering dampner(stabilizer) needs to be replaced(I can do this myself).

Labor for all that is $500.00 I started purchasing the parts myself(he's cool that way, just get *good* parts, like TRW,
Moog, etc., not the crappo store brand junk).

Here's my disbelief: my T has only 86K on it. I bought it 3yrs ago with just 53K orig. mi. on it from 2nd owner
(who never took it off-road). The truck was *mint* when I got it, spotless, clean inside/outside, even underneath. The
2nd owner was very meticulous with it, hardly drove it too. I've driven it in my field and down a logging trail or two,
down to the pond for fishing, etc. but nothing harsh, no heavy duty romping, no or anything.

I gotta to the repairs obviously, just puzzling me how all 4 BJoints are worn at only 86K.

There's also some top/bottom rocking play in one of the front wheels, he says it's probably the bearings
and wants to re-pack it (may need to replace bearings of they are worn).

 

The bearings being out could have something to do with the tires...and the ball joints...
Get r done and a good alignment...and rotate the tires more often...
Are your torsion bars cranked up...?

 

scuba, no, I have not touched my T yet, it's all stock and at factory specs. I s/w some other mechanic buddies of mine, they told me the BJ's can wear fast, one said he replaces BJ's on F150's with 40K on 'em on a regular basis, another said they've been replacing the BJ's on Jeeps still under warranty w/low miles.

I'm git'nr done, just wondering how I'm replacing mine and my buddy who has a '86 Yota pickup 4x4 with over 270K hard road miles on it towing a carpenter's trailer all it's life, and never replaced one yet(which I find hard to believe). My pastor same thing, only his is an '85, but easy miles(no towing ever).

I have heard mostly negative comments from torque turners, usually all the same, stating the ride is very harsh after cranking them, plus you need to re-do the alignment if you crank 'em, then redo it again if you decide to go backwards.

 

I had the same issue with my last T100 and expect the same with my newer low mileage "gem"
I only use both for weekend stuff etc.. For reference, I sold my last one a 93 in '08 with 86k on clock..
No mods aside from Downey air intakes and bit taller tires.
I greased everything and changed oil due to time not miles..Anyhow I could only surmise that sitting ie; rusting for long periods is cause and effect. Mine are garage stored but I think moisture gets through concrete or something. My brake lines rust quickly and the calipers were seriously connected to rotors at last change (due to warped rotor not bad pads).
Now my 98's rear drums are sticking...
Same thing with a mustang I had for awhile. Could count on something being broke when I fired it up in the spring though it was fine when I stored it.
Been thinking about the Downey steering stabilzer myself.. I use the T to get to trout, grouse and mushroom spots which invariably involves washboard roads..
Lemme know what you think.

 

You brake lines rust quickly? Are not those lines stainless steel? Based on that statement plus your frozen calipers I'm guessing you live in the *rust belt*.

Last time I had one of my mechanic buds cut my front rotors(last Summer) he tried to pull the rear drums but could not get them off! I'm still puzzled 'bout this, never had a vehicle I could not get the drums off. He pounded, pulled, they would not come off, have no idea why or how they are stuck. I still have not been able to pull 'em off.

I cut my rotors last Summer and they became warped again this Summer. I drive the truck just about every day, but mostly hwy miles. I can probably get one more cutting left out of them, but I know they are gonna wear out faster after this.

I got all the BJ's, pitman arm, & idler arm and I am ready have Mr. Mechanic replace them. I put the stock steering stabilizer in myself, easy job. Never heard of Downey products. Where do you get them?
Has any one ever used Old Man Emu components?


I noticed when I turned my front wheels while off the ground they turn together, no delay like my mechanic said....hmmm. BUT I did notice that the knuckles on the pitman & idler arms bend twist way too much, which is probably the back-n-forth vibration I am getting, and there's plenty of up-down play in the upper+lower BJ's, which, as scuba surmized, is causing the pre-mature inside tire wear.

*WHAT'S A GOOD SHOCK TO USE FOR THE FRONTS?* I need to replace those too.

 

Where the hub meets the drum is where it likes to git rusted and frozen up. I'd spray that area with some penetrant and bang on it a bit to git it worked in. I do believe that there are some holes on the drum that should allow you to thread some metric bolts in there to press the drum off of the hub, too.

Also, are you sure yer back brakes are working? I found out by jacking up the rear and spinning the wheels by hand and jamming on the brakes that mine wasn't working. The LSPV had stuck and didn't allow the fluid to pass through it. I had to bang on it with a 2x4 before I could bleed it out and git good pressure on the rear brakes.

 

I've got some, luv the stuff.
I can probably squirt some behind the holes in my wheels down into the drum surface where it meats the wheel hub.

Rear brakes definitely work on my T. I use the e-brake always, I can
leave it in neutral and it won't move with the e-brake on so I'm confident
that is not "it". The rear wheels will spin freely when in the air.

 

The hand brake is a different operating system than the hydraulic system. The LSPV is a Load Sensing Proportional Valve and is part of the hydraulic system. If yer rear wheels spin freely in the air and you jam on the brake pedal...are the wheels stopping without resorting to the hand brake? If so, that is probably why yer rotors are warping...cause the rear brakes are not working when you press on the brake pedal. I'd still check out that LSPV...really!!

 

Do this.
Chock the front wheels.
Put the transmission in Neutral.
If you have a floor jack, jack up the rear by the differential.
Release the parking/hand brake.
Spin the rear wheels by hand.
Step on the brake pedal.

Are the wheels stopping?

 

BZP: I will try your suggestion w/the brakes.

Well, I took a 250 mile trip after all the suspension work, new tires, alignment, and there is still a very strong vibration coming from the front suspension. At this point I am thinking I need to check my half-shafts, but I'm not sure I can *test* them for play w/o taking them out and it's a real hump to do that, plus I just got new BJs & alignment.
I noticed the shafts do not have counter-balance shaft weights. I once had a Dodge Shelby CSX & a Dodge Omni GLHS and if you did not have those weights on the shafts boy could you feel it! Especially under hard acceleration and high speeds.

But I have never seen them on a truck with independent front axles.

I am hoping it's not the transaxle bearings....that would really suck. What else should I look for? (man, I hope it's not the spindles!).

 

check your lower control arm bushings for play. have seen this cause vibrations on a 4runner. also may want to make sure they balanced your tires properly. Did you have the bearings re-packed? make sure they are nice and tight. a bad or loose wheel bearing can also cause vibrations.

 

Inside wear sounds like a bad wheel bearing letting everything get out of whack.

Also you might want to look at a thread on 4x4wire as there is a guy with a similar vibration and after a lot of work his vibration is getting narrowed down to wheel bearings.

 

Froggy93 - I had new Yoko Geolanders installed day after xmas and took a trip from Lynchburg, VA to
Mooresville, NC and there is still I vibration but it's much more subtle now and not nearly as bad as
before the new b-joints, idler & pitman arms. While in NC I installed new KYB shocks up front. This
made little difference despite the old shocks being just about shot. It is also harder to "feel" the "good
vibrations" with the new big meaty tires and shocks (both absorbing a lot it now).

Flannelman: in the trouble-shooting stages, before any work was done, we checked the wheels for
bearing play and only one side had substantial in/out play rocking the wheel so we removed &
repacked that side: the old grease was clean & soft plus the seal was good too. Bearings, races, and
seals showed no wear. After the suspension work & re-pack the wheel is tight. . My local tire guy and
the local alignment shop (different shops) both check for wheel play before they do their thing and
neither found any.

After the trip I took the truck back to my neighborhood tire guy and had him re-check the fronts for
balance, both were off by about 1oz. and he re-balanced them.

I will check the c-arm bushings but I doubt they would be worn after only 87K or mostly hiway and mild
off-road driving(hope not anyway).

FRONT DRIVE SHAFT COUNTER-BALANCE WEIGHTS:
Has anyone used these and if you have do you have any feedback on their effectiveness?

 

The big problem I see with T100 front end wear is that everyone puts oversize tires on them. This will wear out your front end parts, If you look at the door panel info, you will that the recommended tire size for T100 is a good old 235X75R 15 I put this tire on my T100 after the 13X10's wore out, and it rides like caddy

 

8Lug, is your vibration coming through the steering wheel? On the Toyotas that have the ADD front diff the axles are always turning with the front wheels and tires, thats why I allways put on a pair of locking hubs from Warn or SuperWinch to disconect the wheels turning with the axles, this is called CV buzz. Not saying this is gonna fix your vibration but if you install locking hubs then you know that the axles are going to have less wear and tear and less rolling resistance and the wheels run free.

 

My door sticker says the same thing. however, 31x10.5 tires were a factory option. they just didn't put a different sticker on the door. My truck came with this package and it doesn't have the sticker either.

 

FW-739: I did the ADD to manual locking hub conversion on an old Dodge Raider I once had, only the Raider never vibrated like my T does, but I had hiway-like tires on it. I suppose the conversion would not be much different doing it on my T. I've been thinking about doing this. Any change in gas mileage after switching to manual?

The CV buzz was precisely what I experienced on my Dodge Shelbys until I put counter-balance shaft weights on them.

Froggy93: you are correct about the factory 31x10.5 option. I think if you put any factory recommended size all terrain tire on your truck it will shake-n-bake like mine is; put hiway tires on it and it will probably calm down. I cannot imagine driving my T with mud terrains! I'd probably loose my hearing, not to mention some fillings.

How much of a performance gain did you experience with your hi-flo cat?

 

I got a little bit more top end out of it. not much but it sounds good. it probably would have been better if I had gone with a smaller diameter pipes. I think mine are just a little big but eh. once again, it sounds really good so I don't care.

 

Froggy, tell me about your exhaust system, I need ideas for mine plus any other low-cost performance mods you know about.